Caramel Apple Pork Chops

Last year Andrew was determined to be “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. He thought that was the name of the lunatic that chops people up with a chainsaw. I kept explaining that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the name of a movie, the name of an event– not the name of a character. It would be like dressing up as Freddy Krueger and then calling yourself Nightmare on Elm Street. Gah.

Okay this is probably just an argument in semantics on my part, but as a gimantico fan of Halloween and things that scare me to pieces, I think that if you’re gonna dress up as a character from a horror movie, you doggone better well know what you’re talking about. Does that mean I let Andrew watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? No. I like Halloween but I’m not (completely) crazy.

Speaking of crazy, how about this:

Caramel and apple and pecans are such a treat that I thought we should bake them all on top of some pork chops. Man that was a good idea.

So I peeled and sliced some granny smith apples, and browned pork chops in a skillet.

I used boneless pork chops, about 3/4 of an inch thick. 6 was not enough. It might have been that I was feeding two growing boys and a hungry man/werewolf. And it might have been that they were awesome.

The browned pork chops are placed in a single layer across a 9X13 baking dish. I didn’t cook them through. Just gave them some color and a sort of brown crust, and then put them aside to rest while I made caramel.

In the same skillet that I browned the pork chops, and over medium heat, I melted butter and stirred in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Once that made a nice caramelly syrup, I stirred in my apples and continued to cook for about 5 minutes (the apples were just barely tender) stirring occasionally.

This all gets poured over the waiting pork chops and then sprinkled with chopped pecans.

All of this goes in the oven and gets baked for about 30 minutes. You want the pork chops to be cooked all the way through, and you want the apples to be baked like as if they came out of an apple pie.

The weather is getting colder, the leaves are falling off the trees. Apple farms are in full swing right about now and this dinner dish is a surefire way to get into the spirit of the season. So good even Leatherface liked it.

2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (granny smith is the best apple for this, but if you have another preference just make sure they are crispy and will hold up to the baking)

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped pecans

To Make

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat the oil in a large skillet, over medium high heat and then brown the pork chops (about 2 minutes on each side). Remove the browned chops from the skillet and spread in a single layer across the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Set aside. In the same skillet, over medium heat, melt butter and add the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until the sauce is completely combined and then add the apples. Cook the apples in the caramel for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Then pour the mixture over the pork chops and sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Bake for 30 minutes or until pork chops are done. The apples will be tender and the sauce will be bubbly. Spoon the apples and sauce over the pork chops when serving.

2 Responses

These were so so so good. I haven’t made them in awhile because for some reason it feels like fall food to me, and in my current state of heat exhaustion all I wanna eat is ice cream and watermelon. Bot it’s a super easy recipe! Hope you’ll try it! Lemme know how it goes 🙂